This invention relates in general to a package for a bondable dental appliance ready for mounting, and more particularly to a package for a ready mountable appliance in the form of a carrier having at least one compartment into which the appliance may be inserted and held, and which is enclosed in a hermetically sealed bag for shipment and/or storage.
Heretofore, it has been well known to package bondable appliances having an uncured coating of light-curable adhesive paste, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,978,007; 5,172,809; 5,328,363; 5,348,154; 5,538,129; 5,636,736; and 5,762,192. The appliances disclosed in these patents include a metallic or ceramic base on which the coating of light-curable adhesive is applied, and are placed in individual pocketed trays for shipping.
It has also been known to provide ready mountable orthodontic appliances having a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive on their base that is protected during shipment with a releasable backing.
The above prior art packaging systems are not suitable for packaging appliances with a bilayer base of the type disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 10/285,742, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a package and method of packaging a dental appliance having a bilayer base consisting of a layer of cured polymer resin and a layer of uncured polymer resin of the same family. Preferably, the uncured polymer resin is light-curable, although it may be chemically curable. The uncured light-curable polymer resin may be of any suitable type such as the Python Light Cure Adhesive sold by TP Orthodontics, Inc. of LaPorte, Ind. xe2x80x9cPythonxe2x80x9d is a trademark owned by TP Orthodontics, Inc. Similarly, the chemical cure resin may be of any suitable activator-curable type, such as the Python One Step Adhesive or the Right-On no mix adhesive sold by TP Orthodontics, Inc. xe2x80x9cPython One Stepxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cRight-Onxe2x80x9d are trademarks owned by TP Orthodontics, Inc. In this application, reference to a polymer resin is intended to relate to any suitable light or chemically curable adhesive for bonding appliances to hard surfaces, such as teeth.
The package of the invention includes an egg crate type carrier frame of a suitably substantially rigid plastic formed of interconnecting walls and dividers or partitions that define one or more open-ended compartments. Preferably, the carrier will be provided with a plurality of compartments for a plurality of appliances, but it should be appreciated that it could be made in a form to accept a single appliance. The compartments are generally rectangular in configuration, but it should be appreciated that they could be made of ally geometrical shape for receiving a particular appliance of like geometrical shape. For example, some orthodontic lugs or cleats may have a round-shaped base, and in that event the compartments may be a round-shaped cross section. Brackets and tulles normally have a rectangularly shaped base, and therefore rectangularly shaped compartments are particularly suited for such appliances. For purposes of illustrating and describing the invention, the drawings show a carrier with rectangular openings.
The compartments may be of a type having a substantially uniform cross section between their ends or of a tapered cross section. Where the compartments are substantially rectangular in configuration, the appliances with a cured layer of polymer resin are placed in the compartments such that the face of the cured layer will be spaced inwardly from one end of the compartment so that a layer of uncured polymer resin can be applied to the cured layer while the appliance is positioned within a compartment. The uncured layer of adhesive is screeded along the carrier to form the layer substantially flush with the ends of the compartments thereby establishing the thickness of the layer, and other retainer means is provided to assist in retaining the appliance within the compartment. For example, where the appliances are brackets having an archwire slot, a wire may be slidably received in the carrier for mating with the archwire slot to retain the brackets at a predetermined position prior to adding the uncured layer of polymer resin.
Following the application of the uncured layer of resin, the carrier with the appliances is then inserted into a bag and hermetically sealed in the bag. The bag may be of any suitable light opaque material to not only prevent the exposure of a light-curable polymer resin to a wavelength of light energy that would cause curing of the resin. The bag would also prevent the entry of any contaminants, as well as ambient air and/or any water vapor. It is also preferable to flush the interior of the bag, as well as the carrier with the appliances with an inert gas to remove the ambient air prior to hermetically sealing the bag. This procedure will enhance the shelf life of the uncured layer of polymer resin. The bag may be hermetically sealed by any suitable method, and the end of the bag that is sealed may also be provided with a suitable well known reclosable fastener that would allow, after breaking of the hermetic seal, opening of the bag to permit removal and use of some of the appliances from the carrier, and thereafter closing the bag for at least some period of time before use of the unused appliances.
The bag material may be of any suitable polymeric material such as a polyethylene or polyester that would be impermeable to ambient air, water vapor, contaminants, and, where a light-curable resin is used, to also be impermeable to light energy that would cure the resin.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a package for shipment and/or storage of dental appliances having a base including a cured layer of a polymer resin and an uncured layer of a polymer resin to protect the integrity of the uncured layer of resin before usage of the appliances.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a package for bondable dental appliances ready to be mounted on teeth that includes a sufficiently rigid carrier having compartments into which the bondable appliances may be individually positioned and a bag for completely enclosing the carrier and appliances against contamination to prevent the curing of the uncured layer of the polymer resin and to provide a desired shelf life.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a package in the form of a carrier and bag to transport bondable appliances having a cured layer of polymer resin and an uncured layer of polymer resin.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method of packaging bondable appliances with a base having a cured layer of polymer resin and an uncured layer of polymer resin.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a package for ready mountable orthodontic appliances having a bilayer base with a layer of cured polymer resin and a layer of light-curable polymer resin which will maintain the appliances separate from each other, and individually readily removable for direct mounting on a tooth.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts.